Read with Me: Accessible Stories in Grid

With the recent Grid update, Smartbox has recently added Read with Me: Accessible Stories - a new collection of interactive grid sets designed to help children experience the joy of reading, build literacy skills, and communicate more independently. 

Choose from titles such as The Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and Jim the Gingerbread Man, or use the template to create your own story. Each story includes a range of tools for educators, communication partners and AAC users. 

   

Each story features:

• A clear layout and simple sentences for early reading.

• Presents story text without symbols to focus on word recognition and decoding (symbols can be added if needed).

• A communication partner bar with glossary, table of contents, and quick-talk tools.

• A fun “Find the Symoji” hidden-character activity on every page to keep readers engaged.

Resources

The Read with me resources are broken into four categories:

• Story explorer for readers and developing communicators, the activities were designed to help the learner connect to the story
• Story builder for learners developing sequencing and narrative skills, with activities focused on understanding the order of events
• Story thinker for learners ready to reflect, compare and comment, these activities promote personal opinions and language development.
• Story detective for learners working at a higher level with reduced language support, with activities that stretch comprehension and early decoding.

These grid sets offer five colour-coded reading levels (from repetitive sentences to extended text), that guide learners through progressive reading development.

Best of all — you can also customise your own accessible book using the Read with Me template.

Now available in Grid 

To access this new feature, make sure your Grid software is up to date. You can find Read with me: Accessible stories by going to:

Add grid sets > Education > Read with me: Accessible stories

Because reading is more than just a skill — it’s a way to build connection, confidence and independence. Happy reading!